Blogger Power: Safeguard the Web for Children

Blogger Power has received an email from Suzanne Stanford of My Internet Safety Coach. To show our support for her effertos, we are going to copy and paste the contents of the document she sent us.

When your child’s innocence is lost, it is lost forever. If your child dies at the hands of a sexual predator, your life as you know it will never be the same!

Online crimes cross all socio-economic, cultural, color, religious and geographical boundaries. Online crimes against children are preventable!

I have drafted proposed legislation, Parents Against Predators Act (P.A.P.A.)

This will help make the Internet a safer environment for our youth.

P.A.P.A. would federally mandate that all websites providing electronic communication to minor children (chats, multi-user gaming, social networking) would have their auto-responder cross reference against the National Sex Offender Registry when an individual attempts to subscribe to their service. If listed in this registry, that individual would be prohibited from that site’s areas where children congregate.

Given that most children have cell phones with cameras, video, and are Internet enabled, the risk to their safety needs more protection NOW than ever!

A key concern of parents these days is that their child, while chatting online, is being lured by a pedophile/sex offender. Currently, there is no law in place preventing convicted sex offenders from engaging in electronic communication with minors.

As a parent, I find this outrageous and unacceptable! As an Internet safety expert and one who has received a Congressional Merit Award for the work I’ve done in this arena with and for children, I am moved to “take action”, but I need “your” help.

Currently, P.A.P.A. is being reviewed by Members of Congress, from both chambers, Republicans and Democrats alike. But, I cannot get this legislation passed on my own. Our elected officials need to know this is something wanted by their constituents. I need everyone’s help.

• According to the United States Attorney General’s office, there are approximately 600,000 convicted sex offenders in the National Sex Offender Registry.
• Approximately 100,000 of them are missing from the database.
• According the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (2007) 1 in 7 children have received an unwanted sexual solicitation on the Internet by a stranger (who wants to meet them).
• Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Sex Offender Task Force’s recent report stated: “106,000 registered sex offenders reside in California.”
• The report states that 10,000 of them “who are the most dangerous” are on parole.

Our children must be protected from these individuals. P.A.P.A. will definitely help.

The U.S. Customs Service estimates that there are more than 100,000 Web sites offering child pornography - which is illegal worldwide. Revenue estimates for the industry range from about $200 million to more than $1 billion per year. These unlawful sexual images can be purchased as easily as shopping at Amazon.com. “Subscribers” typically use credit cards to pay a monthly fee of between $30 and $50 to download photos and videos, or a one-time fee of a few dollars for single images. (Red Herring Magazine, 1/18/02)

A 2006 report cited the child pornography business is estimated at $3 billion annually.

As parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, teachers, or neighbors, we must all “step up to the plate” to protect our children from being lured and seduced on the Internet. Although responsible parenting is key to keeping our children safe in this environment, the reality is that we can’t always be there looking over our children’s shoulders. And while it is vital that our children learn safe and responsible Internet behavior to keep themselves safe, the reality is that pre-teens and teens are engaging in risky online behavior by posting inappropriate and sexually explicit photos of themselves online, as well as giving out personal identifying information. They have no idea what danger they are courting. Their youth gives them the false security that “nothing” will ever happen to them. They believe they are safe. If only that were true.

Be a part of this groundbreaking effort to get P.A.P.A. signed into law.

Due to the anonymity component of the Internet, it is easy for sex offenders to hide behind a computer screen – trading ”lurking in parks” to “trolling the Internet”. Using the Internet is safer for them, given they are not allowed to be in areas where children congregate. This cyber playground provides them the environment to meet children “under cover”.

This legislation would remove that cover; provide less opportunity, and would help enforce existing restrictions as it pertains to being where children congregate.

Unfortunately, P.A.P.A. won’t keep all of these individuals from being where our children socialize or play games online, but at least convicted sex offenders whose names are on the National Sex Offender Registry will be excluded, thus creating a safer online community for our youth.

This IS NOT a political issue. It is a necessary means to help protect minor children from convicted sex offenders who want to use websites catering to minor children for the sole purpose of contacting them via email, chats, social networks, and multi-user games. These individuals should NOT be in these areas!

Protect the online safety of our children. Support P.A.P.A.!

Please email me at: suzanne@myinternetsafetycoach.com

If you would like to:

• Be a part of the PAPA Campaign Committee; a PAPA Campaign Action Leader;

PAPA Campaign Action Delegate (in your area)

· Make a financial contribution

· Make an “in kind” donation (goods and/or services)

· Support this proposed legislation

(Please state your level of interest.)

Suzanne

Suzanne Stanford

President/CEO

My Internet Safety Coach

www.myinternetsafetycoach.com

suzanne@myinternetsafetycoach.com

tags: internet safety, child safety, internet predators, internet safety legislation